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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Apple Asks Judge for Permission to Sue Bankrupt Kodak

Apple has asked a bankruptcy judge for permission to sue Kodak for infringing on patents that cover technologies used in its printers, digital cameras, and digital picture frames, reports Bloomberg.

Apple said in a filing yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York that it intends to file a complaint against Kodak at the International Trade Commission and a corresponding suit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan based on patent-infringement claims. The suit will seek an order blocking Kodak's infringement, according to the filing.

The law doesn't prevent the filing of Apple's suit; however, the company says it wants to be extra cautious.

"Apple requests express authority from this court before it initiates the actions out of an abundance of caution," the company's lawyers wrote.

Kodak can ask the court to halt the district case until the ITC makes its ruling but Apple says a court order on that request "is not required before Apple commences" its lawsuits.

Apple has also objected to a Kodak ITC complaint alleging that Apple infringes on Kodak patents saying, "It is against the public interest for the commission to expend its resources initiating and prosecuting an investigation when it is known, based on Kodak's own admissions, that Kodak will be selling the asserted patents and divesting itself of the parts of its business"

Kodak has responded saying, "Apple should not be using the bankruptcy to seek to disrupt Kodak's enforcement of its patents given that infringers like Apple, who continue to violate Kodak's intellectual property rights and refuse to properly compensate it, have contributed to Kodak's current circumstances."

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